In one of a number of incidents related to parade tensions, loyalists
marchers belonging to the Apprentice Boys of Derry staged a mob attack
on an Irish bar in Liverpool last Saturday evening, June 10.

In a video taken by a passing motorist, a man was held in a headlock by
one loyalist while being punched by others. The terrified driver filmed
the men brawling on top of her car as violence erupted.

Trouble began when the Protestant marching group, the Apprentice Boys of
Derry, passed the Liffey Irish bar in Renshaw Street.

The bar has been a regular target of loyalist intimidation and
provocation in recent years.

Loyalist bands normally strike up sectarian tunes as they pass the bar,
but in an escalation on Saturday, bandsmen and their followers attempted
to enter the bar in a concerted attack. Merseyside police said they made
two arrests.

POLITICIAN ATTACKED

In County Derry, a nationalist member of the Stormont Assembly said he
had to dial 999 after his car was attacked by loyalists on Friday night.

East Derry SDLP representative John Dallat had gone to collect a Chinese
takeaway on Main Street in Kilrea when he was spotted by people
attending a band parade in the village.

Mr Dallat said a group came over an kicked his car after he had moved it
during a break in the parade.

“I have lived through very bad times but this is the first time I felt
the need to phone the emergency services to help me get away before
worse happened,” he said.

GAA CLUB TARGETED

In County Antrim, a GAA club was targeted in a sectarian graffiti
attack, the third in recent months.

The letters ‘UVF’ were scrawled on a wall at the entrance to St Mary’s
GAA club in Rasharkin overnight on Thursday.

The loyalist slogan ‘No Surrender’ also appeared while a UVF flag was
draped across the wall at the playing fields.

A mainly nationalist village, Rasharkin has been at the centre of a
bitter parades dispute in recent years.

North Antrim Assembly member Philip McGuigan said more needed to be done
to stop “these hate-filled sectarian attacks”.

“The people responsible are anti-Catholic, anti-Irish and anti-community
but should not be allowed to succeed in raising tensions as is their
intention.”

GARVAGHY CONCERNS

Meanwhile, nationalist residents in Portadown have warned the British
government against any political deal that would allow the Orange Order
to again hold a provocative march down the nationalist Garvaghy Road.

They were speaking after Portadown Orange lodge urged the new DUP-backed
administration to place the parading issue high on their agenda. It said
that it “trusted” that parading issues, especially in Portadown, would
be high on the agenda for the new government.

Orangemen have been rerouted from the Garvaghy Road since 1998. The
Portadown Orange Order were keen to point out the new influence of local
DUP MP and prominent Orangeman, David Simpson.

There has been speculation that an agreement between the DUP and
Conservative Party to keep Theresa May in power could include the
abolition of the Parades Commission, which adjudicates on the routes of
contentious parades.

Senior DUP figures hinted as much when they told journalists at a
Westminster press conference: “The future is bright, the future is
Orange”, reprising a familiar marketing slogan.

In one of the more contentious parades, hundreds of Orangemen marched
through Belfast as part of the annual ‘Tour of the North’ parade on
Friday night.

Around 800 people and 13 bands took part in the parade which passed St
Patrick’s Catholic Church on Donegall Street - the scene of previous
disorder. However the march, which is partially restricted, passed off
without incident.

COUNCIL COLLUDES IN BONFIRE CRIME

In related news, it has emerged that Belfast City Council is storing
pallets to be used for a notorious loyalist bonfire close to a busy
tourist hotel.

The bonfire close to the Holiday Inn, just off the Sandy Row, has become
emblematic of the ‘Eleventh Night’ in Belfast. For the past number of
years, tourists have been terrified when the inferno blazes alongside
the hotel and loyalist violence reaches a crescendo across the North.

Two tourist buses were damaged in a suspected loyalist arson attack
outside the hotel last month.

Last month, Belfast City Council bizarrely decided to facilitate the
bonfire by collecting and storing the bonfire material. Hundreds of
pallets were removed from the city centre site by council employees and
held in storage at a council facility to be delivered to the site in
time for its construction.

After being accused of handling goods stolen from one company, they were
forced to return the stolen pallets.

Sinn Fein councillor Jim McVeigh, the party’s council group leader, said
it would strongly oppose any attempt to return the remaining pallets to
the bonfire site.

“The council could be leaving itself open to a legal challenge from
ratepayers on health and safety grounds by facilitating this bonfire if
anyone is injured or property damaged as a result,” he said.

“The materials should not be put in storage. They should either be
returned to their rightful owners or destroyed immediately.”

We have a favour to ask

We want to keep our publication as available as we can, so we need to ask for your help. Irish Republican News takes time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe it makes a difference.
If everyone who reads our website helps fund it, our future would be much more secure.

For as little as £1, you can support Irish Republican News – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.